Jumping the Shark
by sosmitten
Summary: Postep for 1.02, 'The Lorelai’s First Day at Chilton.' Because it's good she turned down the Chilton dad.
1. Prologue Early October, 2000

**Disclaimer:** Not mine, but it's fun to play.

**Author's Note:** This is for **CineFille** because it's long past time for me to write her a story. Thanks for being a great beta and friend and for those encouraging words that meant so much to a new writer. Enormous thanks to the betas: **iheartbridges**, **JeSouhaite**, and **lulabo** for all of their feedback and encouragement.

**Jumping the Shark**

**Prologue – Early October, 2000**

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us?" Rory asked again.

"I'm sure. You don't need your mother tagging along."

"That's never stopped you before," Rory teased, which resulted in Lorelai sticking out her tongue at her. Rory grinned, then her expression softened and she added, "But seriously, we go to the movies together all the time. You should come."

"It's okay hon, I don't really feel like going out. You guys go. Have fun." She ushered Rory and Lane out the door, reminding them to eat lots of junk food, and trying to ignore the knowing and concerned look on Rory's face when she glanced back over her shoulder at her mom.

Lorelai closed the door, leaning back against it with a big sigh, relieved to be alone, relieved for the reprieve from pretending for Rory that everything was fine.

She padded into the kitchen, heading straight for the coffeemaker. The motions were automatic. She could make coffee practically in her sleep. Without thinking, she easily carried out the steps: filter, grounds, grounds-holder-thingy into machine…into the machine. Dammit! The holder stuck and in her impatience, she pushed harder and got it further stuck. Angrily she pulled at it and its sudden release caused coffee grounds to spill all over the counter and the floor.

Letting out a frustrated groan, Lorelai tossed the recalcitrant grounds-holder-thingy onto the counter and walked out of the kitchen, leaving the mess behind her.

She headed straight for the couch, curling herself up against the far arm. After a few too-long moments of silence, she reached for the TV remote and flicked it on, clicking through channels. She finally settled on a rerun of _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_, the idea of being invincible for a little while wildly appealing.

It wasn't supposed to be like this. In fact, it wasn't supposed to be at all.

She'd expected the disruption of routine, the adjustments she and Rory had needed to make - everything from where they ate to whom they mocked. Avoiding that kind of disruption had been the reason they'd started the list in the first place. But even knowing the changes couldn't be helped, she hated that they affected Rory.

She hadn't expected this feeling, this sense of being completely out of balance. She seemed unable to get a handle on her emotions. As time went on, it became even harder to hide all of this from Rory, and from Sookie.

She blamed the Chilton dad for being an attractive but disconcerting option. She blamed Al for being safe, but not at all appealing.

And in her darker moments, she blamed Rory for putting 'date' and 'Luke' in the same sentence to begin with.

_Next: Three and a half weeks earlier_


	2. Ch 1 Three and a half weeks earlier

**Disclaimer:** Still not mine.

**Author's Note:** Huge hugs and thanks to the betas: **iheartbridges**, **JeSouhaite**, and **lulabo. ** This was an especially challenging chapter to write and they endured multiple drafts of it.

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**Chapter 1 – Three and a half weeks earlier**

She'd known that a date with Luke would be at least a little awkward. She'd expected awkward; she knew how to handle awkward. She hadn't expected uncomfortable.

The actual ask-out had come along rather unexpectedly, almost as if it had fallen out of their conversation by default and the result was that Luke was going to take her to dinner the following Saturday. It seemed to take both of them by surprise.

It felt strange to have made date-like plans with someone that she saw every day. Lorelai couldn't recall that ever happening before. An extra degree of nervous energy hung in the air during all of their conversations and Luke had a faintly questioning look in his eye every time she saw him - as if he wanted to ask each time he saw her if they were still on. He did ask on Saturday morning, and under Rory's amused gaze, they confirmed their dinner plans and Luke told her he'd pick her up at seven.

Luke knew enough to be a few minutes late and patiently waited another 10 minutes while she finished getting ready. When Lorelai asked if she was going to make them late, he confessed to having allowed for some leeway when making the reservations, and though outwardly she pretended to look offended, she was secretly impressed that he both knew what to expect and seemingly accepted it without question.

The friendly smirks they shared relaxed her, but the moment they left the house and Luke gestured toward his truck, it hit her that they were going on a _date_. She was going on a date with this hatless, slacks-wearing version of Luke, who was watching her with a hopeful smile, and suddenly she had no idea what to say to him. Normally she might have mocked him for acting like a gentleman as he opened the passenger door, except for the fact that he wasn't acting, and that just emphasized even more how foreign the situation felt.

When Luke climbed into the truck, he gave her a nervous glance, then looked away again, turning his attention to the road. In an attempt to bring back the familiarity of their typical interactions, Lorelai cast about for something to talk about.

"So, do you have any music?" she asked. Music would be a safe topic, right?

"There should be some under your seat."

Lorelai leaned down and pulled out a padded rectangular case. Expecting CDs, she was surprised by its shape. After unzipping it she said, "Uh, Luke."

"Yeah?"

"These are tapes."

"Your point?"

"You need a CD player." He opened his mouth to protest, but she interrupted. "And before you say that you don't have any CDs, that can be remedied."

He shrugged. "The tape player's working fine for me."

"Okay, argument for another time. But now let's see what Luke Danes listens to." She started flipping through the cassettes, "Neil Young. Not too surprising. Santana. Rush. Rush? Seriously? I mean who really listens to Rush anymore?"

"Apparently not you." His voice had a sharp edge to it that made her wonder if she'd insulted him. She gave him a questioning look, and his expression softened as he pointed at the case, saying, "Why don't you keep going – get it over with?"

"Okay," she said slowly. "Mellencamp. Hey, you got some Springsteen to go with that? Oh, here's a winner. Supertramp, and oh my god Jefferson Airplane. Please, please, please tell me that you have some Journey or maybe some REO Speedwagon." She looked at him, grinning.

Any other time, she would have expected some sort of retort about how it couldn't be worse than Duran Duran, but he just said, "Sorry to disappoint. No Journey. No REO Speedwagon. Do you think there's anything in there you can stand to listen to?"

Lorelai thought for a moment, then picked out the Mellencamp tape and handed it to him. "How about this?"

He looked at the title. "Really? You like this?" he asked curiously.

She shrugged. "I used to listen to it a lot when I was a teenager, at least in part to annoy my mother." At his raised eyebrow, she added, "She wasn't really fond of anything I listened to, but she considered this 'working-class' music, so she held it in particular disdain."

"Oh, I see."

She thought she could hear hurt in his voice and she kicked herself for being unable to get through a single conversations without bringing up something inappropriate. Trying to repair the damage, she continued, almost as if he hadn't spoken, "But I really liked it. It was one of the things I listened to a lot after moving to Stars Hollow, when Mia gave me one of her old tape players."

He said, "Tape player, huh?" and the amusement she could hear in his voice lessoned her anxiety and she could feel herself start to relax.

As the music started, Lorelai asked where they were going, but Luke was tight-lipped about their destination. She had spent the week imagining different scenarios for this date and had so much trouble picturing Luke on a date at all that she'd given up and let herself wait to see what he'd planned. That didn't keep her, however, from a last-ditch effort to learn on the ride over.

His attire wasn't much of a clue, since anything other than flannel signaled a drastic change for him. He wore a deep blue button down shirt and a pair of black slacks and Lorelai couldn't help admiring how attractive he looked in the combination.

She found herself resisting the instinctive urge to rest her hand on his arm when they shared a mutual laugh. She'd never been shy about initiating a physical connection on a date, but this was Luke. It felt like there were different rules.

The restaurant turned out to be a comfortable tavern that managed to be classy without being fancy. In retrospect, it fit Luke perfectly. She even thought she saw some of the tension melt out of his shoulders as they walked through the door.

He'd started to lead her past the 'Wait to be seated' sign toward what looked to be a reserved table, when an older woman exited the kitchen and spotted them.

"Lucas," she said warmly.

"Hi, Mazie," he answered as she gave him a hug. She then turned toward Lorelai and Luke introduced the two of them tentatively, before Mazie led them to their table and handed them large menus.

Before opening hers, Lorelai gave Luke a curious glance. "You didn't tell me you knew the owners."

He looked down a moment, then looked back with a shy smile. "Mazie and my mom went to school together. I've known them a long time. Her husband Buddy taught me a lot about running a restaurant and helped me get the diner opened."

Lorelai was saved from having to respond by the appearance of Buddy, whom Mazie introduced briefly. After a bit of small talk, Mazie dragged Buddy away, whispering conspiratorially, "I'm sorry to interrupt your dinner. Buddy's just excited because Lucas never brings his girls here."

Luke visibly flushed and protested, "Mazie."

Mazie apologized and excused herself and Buddy, leaving Lorelai and Luke alone again. Lorelai suddenly felt a renewed nervous tension settling over them. Luke glanced over at her and then down at his menu and Lorelai felt compelled to fill the silence.

"So, this isn't one of your dating hotspots, I guess?" she teased.

He shrugged wordlessly, then seemed to find his voice and respond, "Well, I don't really get out too much."

He hadn't really answered the question, but his evasiveness was more telling than a direct answer would have been.

She'd been trying to tell herself all week that this date was a casual outing. The plans, when they fell together, had felt accidental – just another friendly conversation with Luke in the diner.

The conversation she'd been having about dating with Rory over breakfast at the diner had gotten completely turned around, and somehow Luke's name had come up, and of course Luke had witnessed it. After Rory had left, Lorelai had walked up to the counter, to explain to Luke that Rory was just goofing around, to let him off the hook. But, in an amazingly sitcom-like conversation her intention had gotten lost in their bumbling efforts not to insult each other. She wasn't trying to say she didn't want to date him; she just wanted to let him know he wasn't obligated. He wasn't horrified by the prospect of going out with her; he just didn't want her to feel like she would have to, just because of a silly conversation. In the midst of all the backpedaling, instead of forestalling any possibility for a date, they'd ended up making plans for one.

She knew he hadn't planned to ask, and she'd used that to convince herself that this was casual, that they'd be able to try out the dating thing, to see if it worked. Making the date hadn't committed them to anything other than dinner, she told herself, talking over the other voice in her head – the one that said something bigger was going on here. The introduction of these people who, if not family, were at least important to Luke made that second voice louder, more insistent.

And that was terrifying, because Lorelai didn't do well with 'big.' She usually ran from 'big.' She knew that about herself even without her daughter having to remind her about it.

Luke shifted in his seat, and the movement dragged Lorelai out of her own head and back to the moment. She remembered his noncommittal response to the question she'd asked almost in jest. She nodded simply then gestured toward her menu and opened it, welcoming the distraction of so many choices. It wasn't until Luke asked tentatively, "Anything look good?" that she realized just how long she'd been silent.

"Yeah. Really, there are so many things I'm having trouble deciding. How about you?"

"I'm going to get the salmon."

After a brief exchange comparing some of the menu options, during which Lorelai tried desperately to think of something funny to say, she finally settled on the pork chop special. Mazie came back to take their orders and soon after returned with their salads.

In between stretched a long disconcerting silence that Lorelai knew she should be able to fill. Conversation and banter were usually her things, but she felt out of sync with this Luke, unable to find that rhythm they typically had. It was ridiculous, really. He was still the same guy – the one who looked out for her, cared about her. The one who'd seen her embarrassed, elated, grungy, giddy, and any other clichéd description she could dream up. More than that, he'd seen her when she'd let down her guard and confessed her sadness about Rory growing up or her fears about making ends meet.

But all of their more-than-friends feelings brought a new element to their relationship. Date Luke looked at her differently. It wasn't that hungry look she was used to from men who were playing off her flirtatiousness and plotting end-of-evening moves. He watched her with more admiration than hunger, more hopefulness than expectation. He saw _her_, _knew_ her, and still wanted to spend time with her.

It made her gut ache that she couldn't figure out how to talk to him.

Once she had a salad in front of her, Lorelai was so relieved to have something to do that she dove into her salad with uncharacteristic enthusiasm. After a few moments, Luke asked, "How's your salad?"

"It's good."

"I'm just surprised you're eating it. I don't know if I've ever seen you eat salad."

"I don't usually order it, but if it comes with the meal…" She shrugged. "Besides, the salad dressing is really good."

"The salad dressing?"

"You can never be sure about blue cheese, because it can be really awful, especially some of those in the bottle from the market, but I figured it would be good here. Sookie makes a pretty good blue cheese dressing too. Have you tried this before?"

Luke looked a little baffled by the conversation, but answered, "No, I don't really like heavy salad dressing. I usually just have a vinaigrette or something."

"Oh, I don't really like vinaigrette." Somehow that revelation felt a little disappointing; it seemed like they should be finding commonalities, not differences. Of course, it was only salad dressing. "Well, Sookie does make a raspberry vinaigrette that's pretty good. And she once made some sort of apple cider one that was interesting. They were good…fruity."

He gave her a skeptical glance. "Fruity?"

"Yeah, which is weird. I mean, not weird that they were fruity, but weird that I liked them, because I don't really eat fruit much, unless it's in a pie." Luke looked like he was at a loss for words, so she just continued, "Do you make your own salad dressings for the diner? I guess I would know if I ever ordered a salad, but I obviously haven't."

He shook his head. "No, I just buy bottled dressings. It kind of falls under Buddy's 'keep it simple' rule. It was the first thing he told me about running a restaurant."

"I guess that makes sense. It probably makes everything a lot easier. Not that you couldn't make your own salad dressing if you wanted to, but people are probably just as happy with the other stuff. I mean, Sookie makes her own because she's Sookie, but that doesn't mean everyone should…" Her voice trailed off as she noticed Luke's expression getting more and more strained, and she smiled at him apologetically. "I don't usually talk this much about salad dressing. I'm sorry."

"It's fine. Don't apologize."

She nodded. "So, you've known Mazie and Buddy a long time then?"

"All, my life. Mazie went to school with-"

"Oh, right, you said that before. I'm sorry. I am listening, really." She let out a discouraged sigh. "I'm not usually this boring."

"Believe me, I know," he teased, and then gave her an encouraging smile. "You're not boring. And I told you not to apologize."

She nodded and poked at her salad, suddenly repulsed by the salad dressing, symbolic as it was of her inability to carry on a conversation with someone she'd known for years. It was the kind of date she'd laugh about with Rory, if it weren't for the fact that she was letting down a friend. She looked back up at Luke and gave him a weak smile, while racking her brain for something they could talk about. Why was this so difficult all of a sudden?

He gave her a little half smile, took a deep breath and asked, "So, how are things at the inn? Are things picking up now that the leaves are starting to turn?"

As a topic it wasn't wholly original, but she appreciated his effort and tried to reciprocate in kind the next time the conversation lagged, but everything she said felt dull and redundant. It was almost easier to say nothing.

Luke made several valiant attempts to turn the conversation around to their usual repartee, even opening himself up to potentially vicious mocking by sharing stories of the elaborate pretend meals he used to make for his family and Mazie and Buddy when he was a preschooler. But all of the weighty expectation had muddled her wit and his statements fell flat.

The irony of the situation, of Luke trying to talk to her and earning only monosyllabic answers, would have made her laugh if it weren't for the concern in his eyes. The more she tried to speak, to say something worthwhile, the worse the feeling of inadequacy got. She couldn't even imagine the thoughts that must have been going through his head.

She considered pulling out Date Lorelai, the one who always knew what to say and how to be charming, due in part to skill and more than a little artifice. But everything she composed in her head sounded hollow and false.

The strained conversation continued throughout dinner, lightened only occasionally by periods of forced humor. She could see the moment the heart went out of Luke's efforts and it hurt her to see the defeated look on his face. After Mazie came to take their plates, she had her obligatory cup of coffee, and Luke didn't even blink when she turned down dessert.

They were almost back to Stars Hollow when he asked tentatively, "Would you like to come to the diner for some coffee?"

She averted her eyes so that she didn't have to see the resignation in his when she answered, "I have an early day tomorrow. I should get home."

He shrugged and turned toward her house. When he pulled into her driveway, he turned off the ignition and was halfway out his door before she could say, "You don't have to-" When he walked around and opened her door, she repeated, "You don't have to…"

He glanced at her with an unreadable look in his eye. "I'm at least going to walk you to the door." His voice was soft and she wondered again what he was thinking, how he could continue to be so considerate of her.

As she stepped past him, he rested his hand ever so lightly on her hip. There was something instinctual about the gesture, something supportive and not at all suggestive. The thought comforted her, so much so that it took her a moment to realize that it was the first time he'd touched her all evening, and in spite of tension she felt a shiver go through her at the feel of his warm fingers through the thin material of her skirt.

She glanced up at him and felt herself flush. It was something, she thought, because he didn't drop his hand until they reached her steps.

She turned toward him slowly, reluctant to face the end of date awkwardness, struggling to think of the easiest way to extract herself from the moment.

"Well, that was…nice," he said lamely, preempting any attempt she might have made. She could feel in his words that he knew it wasn't.

He opened his mouth to continue, but she blurted out, "Thank you for dinner. You'll have to tell Mazie and Buddy that it was top notch. Really great. And how nice it was to meet them. Thank you for taking me."

"Well maybe…" he started slowly, testing the waters. She saw hope flash in his eyes and it made her wish that she was better at this, that she knew how to take what they had and turn it into something else.

But she couldn't let this possibility go on, only to have it crash and burn and take their friendship along with it. She rushed her next words, needing to get them out before she lost her will, "I mean, it was good to go - to try the 'going-out' thing. It's too bad it didn't work." She saw that she was hurting him, could see his wounded pride, but she knew she was just saving them further grief down the road.

"So that's it?" he asked, his voice soft. "You've just decided? You didn't even give it a real shot."

"I did try. We just didn't…it didn't work."

He looked up at her, leveling his gaze at her for a long moment. After what seemed like an eternity, he let out a defeated sigh. "Whatever." He turned away from her and took a few steps toward his truck, but then stopped for a moment, his hand landing with a frustrated thump on the railing. "You know, if you didn't want to go, you could have said so."

"I did want to go," she said softly.

"Fine." He punctuated the word with a wave of dismissal as he started toward his truck again.

"Luke," she called sadly, "I didn't want it to be like this. I didn't want everything to get so screwed up." As an apology it felt meager to her ears and judging from the skeptical look he gave her when he turned around, she wasn't sure he believed her.

He took in a deep breath, as if evaluating, then said evenly, "I'll see you at the diner tomorrow."

She nodded. It wasn't quite acceptance, but it would have to do.

_Next: A few days before the date_


	3. Ch 2 A month earlier

**Disclaimer:** Still not mine.

**Author's Note:** Thanks so much for all of the encouraging reviews, in spite of the turn the story took. I really do appreciate the feedback. Again I must give huge thanks to the betas for their incredible feedback. **iheartbridges**, **JeSouhaite**, and **lulabo, **you all are wonderful!

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**Chapter 2 – A month earlier**

Lorelai tried to remember if Luke had ever paid any attention to the people she'd dated before, if he had ever reacted at all when she'd mentioned the men in her life. Because she must have mentioned them, right?

Frankly, she wasn't surprised she couldn't remember, given how long it had been since she'd been on a date. Had it been New Year's…no, that was the previous year. It must have been the insurance guy she met when she upgraded her coverage on the house, which meant it had been almost a year. Wow, a year since she'd been on a date. She'd had a seriously long dry spell.

With that disturbing revelation she gave up trying to recall if Luke had ever commented, had ever seemed to care, about the insurance guy.

None of that really mattered, because now he _did _seem to care. She'd been intrigued by his more than passing interest in the Chilton dad, and when he asked her again to make sure she wasn't going, she realized that he didn't _want_ her to go. That he was _glad_ she wasn't going. And that warmed her just a bit more than she'd expected.

Enough so that later, when she and Rory wandered down the street past the diner, she remembered the way he'd looked at her and even, she reluctantly admitted, how gorgeous his eyes were when trained on her so intently.

It got her thinking, wondering, and for a moment she forgot that while she did consider Rory her best friend, asking your daughter if a guy was cute probably crossed some sort of line into impropriety. If she didn't want Rory looking too closely at any male anatomy anytime soon, she probably shouldn't share opinions with her regarding the shape of a guy's butt. Not that she was looking at his butt or anything.

She had Sookie, but Sookie tended to blow Lorelai's hypothetical musings about the men in her life way out of proportion, and Lorelai most definitely knew better than to bring up Luke in those terms in front of Sookie.

She missed that sort of girl talk though. She hadn't gotten her fair share of it as a teenager, and part of her just wanted to giggle and daydream without any commitment. To imagine what could be without anyone reading too much into it. To dream up silly fantasies about storerooms or tabletops without having anyone start planning a wedding.

But then Rory used the word _date_. She hadn't even been thinking about dating. Couldn't a girl admire from afar? But no, Rory mentioned it and now she couldn't get the thought out of her head.

A date with Luke. Where would he take her? What would they talk about? Would he kiss her good night? Would she like it?

After a restless night and some surprising dreams, she was a little unnerved to admit to herself that she thought she would, or that she'd at least like to find out.

Except that she couldn't because Rory was right – he was _Luke_. There was too much at stake, too many ways that their lives could be turned upside down.

It was silly to be thinking about it anymore at all.

But as they headed out the door that morning, she couldn't get it off her mind, couldn't help asking, "So, no dating Luke, but Al is okay?" She kept her voice light, casual.

Rory's brow furrowed, as if she were trying to make sense of the question, but then she nodded, an amused expression dawning across her features.

"I mean," Lorelai continued brightly as she opened the door of the Jeep and climbed in, "maybe we should make a list. It'd be good to know who my prospects are."

"Okay," Rory said slowly, drawing out the word the way she did when she was humoring her mother. "What are the criteria?"

"Guys whose services we could live without – and wow, that came out way dirtier than I intended."

"Mom, focus, and uh…drive, by the way."

"I'm working on it." Lorelai turned the key, flipped the car into reverse and backed onto the street. "Okay, so I just meant like in the case of an evil breakup, we could survive. You know, not go hungry or clothes-less."

"Don't you mean naked?"

"No, naked is what you are when you take a shower. Clothes-less is not having anything to put on after said shower."

Rory rolled her eyes. "Your point being?"

"No one who is integral to our lives."

"Got it." Rory looked at her expectantly. "So, should we start?"

"What, you want me to just throw out some names?"

"How about we go alphabetically? We've already got Al."

Lorelai grimaced. "Does that mean I have to go out with Al?"

"These are just prospects."

"Okay, so…"

"Andrew," Rory finished.

"But, the bookstore. You couldn't live without the bookstore."

"But you could."

"Hey, what are you saying?" Lorelai asked indignantly, as she came to a stop across from the diner and stepped out of the car.

Rory got out of the car and met her mother's eyes over the roof of the Jeep. "Nothing. Just that even if you couldn't go to the bookstore, I could, so Andrew is a valid possibility."

"Okay, but only if you agree to buy me things."

"Sure, if you date Andrew and end up having a horrible break-up, I will buy you all the books you want from his bookstore," Rory said sarcastically as they walked toward the diner.

"Are you mocking me?"

"Mocking you? Not at all. There's nothing remotely mockable about this situation," Rory teased as she pulled open the door to the diner. Lorelai just stuck her tongue out at her, to which Rory responded, "So, moving on. How about Bootsie?"

"Definitely a necessity," Lorelai said, dropping her purse on the back of a chair before sitting down.

"Why? It's not like it's food or clothes or books," Rory protested.

"How are magazines not like books? First you question my need for literature and now you've dismissed my reading material as frivolous?"

Rory shrugged. "Fine, it's a necessity, but you can get them anywhere. Even," she says, gesturing down the street for emphasis, "at the bookstore."

"Unless the bookstore is off-limits," Lorelai pointed out.

"In which case, I'll buy your non-frivolous, necessary reading material." Rory pulled out a pad and began writing. "Okay, so Bootsie and Andrew. Wow, we're off to a rockin' start."

"Wait, you're really going to write them down?" Lorelai asked uncertainly. Watching the words go down on paper gave the silly diversion more importance somehow, made her less able to write this off as some kind of goofy mother-daughter antic. And that made her feel surprisingly unsettled.

"That's kinda the nature of a list."

"Don't you think we'll remember? How many prospects can there really be?"

"Prospects for what?" Lorelai looked up to see Luke bearing a coffee pot and two mugs.

"Oh nothing. Just…uh…trying to come up with some…uh…nothing really important." Lorelai wondered if she looked as flushed as she felt. She wondered if Luke knew how good he looked when he gave her that skeptical look that was part confusion and part amusement.

"Okay," he answered slowly. "Well, I'll leave you to that then. You just want the usual?"

They both nodded silently, but when he returned to the kitchen, Rory turned to her mother. "Well, that was pretty evasive. Any reason you don't want to talk about prospective dates in front of Luke?"

"No," Lorelai's responded quickly, giving a casual wave of her hand as she attempted to brush aside the idea. "Of course not. I just know that Luke doesn't want to hear about my personal life. I thought I'd spare him."

"Ah, how considerate of you," Rory said knowingly.

"Oh, hush you. Now, are we going to continue this list thing or what?"

"Whatever you say."

They continued, speaking quietly, periodically shushed by Lorelai when their whispers became heated.

When Luke appeared with their food, he raised his eyebrow. "I really don't want to know what you're doing, do I?"

Lorelai shook her head, saying, "No, you really, really don't."

She didn't see the mischievous glint in Rory's eye until the words were halfway out of her daughter's mouth. "We're trying to figure out safe people for Mom to date."

"Rory!" Lorelai protested in a loud whisper, shocked and embarrassed at the attention. Between Luke's questions and Rory's knowing glances she felt like she was losing control of what had started as an innocent conversation with her daughter.

Luke gave Lorelai a curious glance, then looked back at Rory. "Safe?"

"Well, you know, someone who…uh…who can handle her unique energy," Rory explained.

"Ahh," he said, his expression becoming entirely amused. "Any possibilities?"

To Lorelai's horror, Rory ran down the list, adding brief commentary about the decision making process thus far, thankfully skirting the issue of _why_ they were making the list. Luke's apparent nonchalance was betrayed by little shuffles of his feet and the way that he avoided Lorelai's eye.

"So that's it?" he asked, as Rory finished up her summary. He glanced at Lorelai. "Sounds like you've got a winning bunch there."

"Well, we're still working our way through the alphabet," Rory clarified. "We were arguing about Kirk."

Lorelai made a noise of protest, and Luke excused himself, chuckling as he walked away,

Rory looked thoughtful for a moment. "You know, it's too bad Luke makes such good pancakes."

Lorelai narrowed her eyes, giving Rory a questioning look.

"He's single, good-looking, _and_ he likes you."

"Rory!" Lorelai tried to shush her daughter even as she felt herself beginning to blush.

"What? He does."

"No, it just creeps me out a little to have you calling him good-looking." Rory gave her a smirk. "And, he does not. It doesn't matter anyway. His burgers are a major part of our food pyramid."

"And there's Danish Day."

"And the coffee…" Lorelai's voice trailed off. She couldn't quite pinpoint the feeling in the pit of her stomach; she just knew that it wasn't comfortable. Rory reached for her coffee and the motion startled Lorelai back to the moment. When she looked up, Rory was watching her curiously.

Lorelai ignored the look in Rory's eye and attempted to change the subject by asking about her English test.

"I thought we were working on the list," Rory said innocently. "If you're sure about Kirk, it's time to move on to the L's."

Lorelai pretended to think for a moment. "Nope, no L's. I guess Martin would be next?"

"Martin? Who's Martin?"

Lorelai didn't get a chance to answer as Luke chose that moment to refill their coffee. While pouring, he asked casually, "So, did you ever make it past the K's?"

"Yeah, we're working on the M's now, apparently debating Martin," Rory said with a smile.

He looked confused. "Martin? Who's that?"

Mortified at Luke's interest, Lorelai buried her face in her arms and mumbled, "Dairy guy at the inn." After a moment though, she lifted her head suddenly, "Oh wait, nix him. I think he's married."

"Definitely nix," Rory said, nodding in agreement.

"Seems logical," Luke added. "So where did you end up on Kirk? That seemed like a match made in heaven."

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Or perhaps a different location that's a little bit warmer."

Rory clarified, "See, he was on, but Mom remembered that he works events at the inn sometimes, so technically he's an employee."

"You let Kirk work for you?" Luke asked Lorelai skeptically.

"Only sometimes. Although, if it keeps him off this list, I think I'll hire him full time." She narrowed her eyes at Rory. "Right, Rory?"

"Yes, I definitely crossed him off the list," she said, gesturing at the paper in front of her. "Luke can vouch for me, okay?"

Luke glanced down at the paper, nodding. Then his face froze in a stunned expression and he swallowed nervously as he reached both hands up to adjust his hat. "Uh…yeah…Kirk's definitely crossed off. Look, I need to get back to the kitchen to uh…"

"Cook something?" Lorelai asked, unnerved at his sudden nervousness.

"Right…yeah…I'll be back with your food."

Lorelai watched him walk away, then turned to Rory, "Okay, what just turned Luke into a stammering idiot?" The list caught her eye and she snatched it away from Rory, scanning it quickly. Just below Kirk's crossed-out name was Luke, very much not crossed out. Her mouth dropped open in shock. "Rory!" she hissed, dropping the list back down in front of Rory.

"What?"

"The whole point of that list was that Luke was not an option." She pointed at her daughter. "You were the one who said that I couldn't date Luke."

"Yeah, I know," Rory admitted, sheepishly.

"So why is his name here, on this list, in purple sparkly gel ink?" She frowned slightly and her brow wrinkled. "And since when do you write with sparkly purple ink?"

"Since I found the pen…I don't know where," Rory answered, then looked directly at her mother and continued, "and because you like him."

"What are you…why would you say that?" Lorelai stammered. The certainty in Rory's voice took her by surprise. She was used to the occasional subtle hint from Rory or Sookie about Luke's feelings for her, but mentioning her feelings was something else entirely. And Rory wasn't being at all subtle now.

"You said he was cute," Rory said matter-of-factly.

"No, I didn't."

"Yes, you did."

"No, I asked if you thought he was cute."

Rory shrugged. "Same thing."

"It's not the same at all," Lorelai protested, then let out a sigh. "It doesn't matter anyway, because there's the coffee and the not being able to eat here. That is why we made this stupid list. This whole not-safe-for-Lorelai to date was your idea. You were the one who said-"

"I know," Rory cut in quietly. "But I shouldn't have."

Lorelai just stared at her wide-eyed, trying to make sense of Rory's words.

Rory folded the list twice and passed it across the table. "Mom, if you're looking for a casual date, there might be some possibilities here, or you know, in another town." She gave her mother a long look. "But if you like him, and he likes you, you shouldn't let the coffee get in the way." She paused for a second before adding, "I've got to catch my bus, but I'll see you tonight."

"Wait, Rory. You can't leave," Lorelai called as her daughter headed for the door.

Rory just turned and smiled, and Lorelai couldn't help but wonder how Rory had become so attuned to her romantic feelings, when she'd worked so hard to keep that part of her life separate from her daughter.

_Next: Lorelai pays her bill._


	4. Ch 3 Still a month earlier

**Disclaimer:** Nope, they're not mine.**  
**

**Author's Note:** Thanks again to the amazing betas: **iheartbridges**, **JeSouhaite**, and **lulabo**. I appreciate all of the thoughtful feedback I've gotten. Some readers will be relieved to know that the story will now begin going forward in time.

**

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**Chapter 3 – Still a month earlier**

Luke watched Rory leave the diner and saw Lorelai curl her fingers around a folded slip of paper he could only assume was the infamous list. He gulped at the thought of his name among a group of men considered as possible dates for Lorelai. He just wished he had some idea _how_ his name had ended up on that piece of paper.

He had no more time to ponder the question, as Lorelai had stood, picked up her purse, and was headed for the counter.

"Hey," he said nervously.

She fished in her purse for money. "I just…uh…wanted to pay."

He nodded. "It's $8.73." She handed him a ten and he gave her change, watching her face for any sign that she thought of him as anyone other than the guy who served her coffee.

She shoved the change in her purse and turned as if to go, but then turned back to the counter.

"Hey, Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry about that whole list thing. That was just Rory goofing around." Lorelai looked down and fidgeted with the piece of paper in her hands. "If it makes you feel better, you don't have to be on the list if you don't want. I can take you off or I should probably just throw this away." She spoke quickly, but her eyes were averted and her voice sounded tentative.

"If that's what you want."

She shook her head. "I don't…it's not what I want." She stopped, as if catching herself, then added, "I mean, I just figured it's what you'd want."

"To not date you?" he confirmed.

"Yeah, 'cause it'd probably be horrible." He could see the horror in her eyes when she realized what she'd said, and then she rushed to correct herself, "Not horrible for me. I meant horrible for you."

It was the perfect set-up for taunting, for him to list all of the ridiculous things that she'd do on a date, for him to give all of the reasons he should run far away at the prospect of dating her. Except that she looked ever so slightly vulnerable, as though she couldn't quite figure out how to work her way out of this conversation. So, he tried to take the middle ground.

"I don't think it would be _horrible_," he said, his voice teasing, but at the same time giving her what he hoped was a warm smile.

She feigned a pout, pretending to be hurt. "Well, that's good to know."

"Who knows? It could even be fun." She gave a little nod, and he continued, almost without thinking, "Maybe we should…sometime…do something."

She looked surprised but pleased, and most importantly, still standing there. "Yeah, maybe we should."

Caesar called out that an order was up and Luke turned to get it, somewhat stunned. He got three or four steps, realized what had just transpired, and then spun around and walked back to the counter. His brain hadn't quite caught up to his voice when he blurted out, "Saturday."

"What?"

Luke took a deep breath, and looked Lorelai in the eye. "I mean, how about Saturday?'

"Saturday?"

"Yeah, are you busy?"

He could see the moment that she registered what he was asking. Her eyes widened, and she responded slowly, almost warily. "No, I'm not busy."

"Then maybe we could do something."

"Do something?" She looked a little bewildered, though he was fairly certain that she knew what he was asking. It was as if she needed to repeat the words to herself to make sense of what she was hearing.

He just nodded, letting the idea sink in – for both of them.

"Um…sure. What did you have in mind?"

The whole situation had presented itself so unexpectedly that Luke felt unprepared to answer her question. If he'd known this was coming he'd have thought through the night. He'd have tried to plan out the perfect first date for Lorelai Gilmore. But he hadn't thought it through and she was sitting there looking at him expectantly, and more than a little surprised at the situation herself. For lack of a better idea, he threw out, "How about dinner?"

"Okay. That sounds good."

After a long moment of awkward staring during which Luke wondered if Lorelai was as shocked as he was, he stammered, "Good…Um, well…I should…Caesar's calling…food ready."

Lorelai was considerate enough to restrain herself to a small smile. "Yeah, you need to get back to work. I need to get _to_ work. So we'll…I'll see you later."

"Yeah, later. Bye, Lorelai."

"Bye, Luke."

In spite of the bustle around him, Luke just stood there watching as Lorelai slipped out the door and crossed the street to her Jeep.

He couldn't help but wonder if the whole bit with the list was just a Lorelai Gilmore version of having a friend pass a note to a boy in junior high. And if it was, whether he should be annoyed or pleased.

Since he couldn't really summon annoyance at that moment, he would have to go with pleased.

Because he had a date with Lorelai Gilmore on Saturday.

_Next up: The day after the date_


	5. Ch 4 Two weeks earlier

**Disclaimer:** They're not mine. That is all.

**Author's Note:** I hope my fantabulous betas, **iheartbridges**, **JeSouhaite**, and **lulabo,** know how much I appreciate their help with this story. Their feedback has been so helpful.

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**Chapter 4 – Two weeks earlier**

Frankly, he'd been surprised to see her so soon after their date. He had expected a period of avoidance, for a little time to pass before she willed herself back to the diner. But the very next day she and Rory had hurried in and plopped themselves down at their usual table.

He'd actually stopped short and stared at them for a moment, running the previous night through his head, just to be sure it had happened. The images came back in all their vivid glory: nervous hesitation practically painted on Lorelai's face all night; the slightly open-mouthed look of desperation as she stumbled painfully through conversation; the flash of fear that crossed her face the moment before she'd cut off his last-ditch effort to salvage whatever pathetic beginning they'd had.

Yes, it definitely had happened, so the fact that she'd shown up at the diner had been somewhat remarkable.

In fact, she'd sat down almost as if they hadn't had the most awkward date in the history of first dates, but just about the time he'd become conscious of his staring, she'd glanced up and given him a questioning look. Her face was tentative, like she was asking him if he'd really meant it the night before when he'd asked if she'd be at the diner the next morning. He had given her a small nod of acknowledgement, trying to keep his face expressionless, and though she hadn't smiled, she'd seemed to let out a sigh of relief.

With Rory as a buffer, they'd stumbled through their typical breakfast conversation. He tried not to be bitter about the fact that Lorelai had seemed to make more of an effort to talk to him in the middle of breakfast rush in the diner than she had during the whole of their date. After the initial shock of her showing up at all, he couldn't help but wonder at her presence, at what it meant.

He'd been relieved; he had worried that she would avoid him, but this very blatant not-avoiding and quick return to the regular routine put him off-guard. It was the same, but then again it wasn't. There had been a brittleness in her laughter and a measured quality in her voice that felt careful and forced. The tentativeness in their voices hadn't felt right, as though whatever had happened (or had not happened) had created a discordant tone in their conversation.

It had taken until the end of her second visit to the diner for him to get it, to understand the new dynamic between them. The cautious conversation had continued, normal on the surface, the difference between that and their typical dialogue probably not noticeable to a casual observer. Luke, however, could sense the nervousness and hesitation in all of their interactions and could feel what was missing.

Until it was gone, Luke hadn't realized how accustomed he had become to their flirtation, how much it was a part of their back and forth rhythm. That it was absent was the most telling thing of all.

He'd never really read anything into their mutual teasing or in the occasional sexual references they tossed about. It had always felt harmless and fun. What Luke hadn't been able to figure out recently was if its absence was intentional on her part, to keep him from misinterpreting her or to keep herself from admitting her feelings.

Whatever the reason, it seemed as though she had come back to the diner to prove to him, and perhaps to herself as well, that everything was normal between them, but she had restrained her carefree nature, had held back retorts and innuendo that had to be on the tip of her tongue.

Because those kinds of things wouldn't have been safe. And she appeared to be all about safe now.

She'd put the counter metaphorically and literally back in between them and it felt like he had no choice but to play along.

He hated the pretending.

It had been about a week and Lorelai had begun come in on her own, without Rory as an escort. She would sit the counter and trade friendly barbs as Luke moved among customers. One evening, in between a takeout order for Bootsie and hounding Kirk to make up his mind, Luke had made some joke and she'd laughed. He couldn't even remember what he'd said, but it was the first genuine, non-forced laugh they'd shared since that night. He'd laughed even harder for the relief of it all. It almost felt normal. For the briefest of moments.

The next night he was cleaning, finishing up, when the bell over the door rang. He turned and smiled almost instinctively. There was no reason to expect her, given the way things were between them, but he was still tuned to her typical patterns, including periodic late-night visits. He could already see her smiling back warmly even before she was all the way through the door.

She stepped inside and gave a quick glance around the diner. He saw the smile fade, her expression freezing into a look of unease, as though she had briefly forgotten that things were now different between them. She recovered quickly, squaring her shoulders and moving toward the counter, as if again trying to prove nothing had changed.

"You weren't about to dump that out?" she asked in mock astonishment, pointing at the coffeepot he held in his hand.

"It's old. This stuff'll kill you."

"Oh, that's what you always say, but look at me, still living and breathing," she teased.

He couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, well this actually might. And it's cold too."

"It's got caffeine, right? That's really all it takes."

"How about I make you some fresh?" he offered.

She nodded, clearly touched by the gesture. "That'd be great, Luke."

He held her gaze. "Anytime."

They'd had moments like this before, in which they looked at each other a beat or two longer than necessary, in which they acknowledged that what existed between them was more than business owner and patron, even more than simply friendship.

And they'd have moments like this again, he suspected. But it was the first of these moments since _that_ night, which made it important somehow.

He was unsurprised when she broke the silence, glancing down at the counter briefly. "I'm so glad for this. It's been such a long day." She gave an exaggerated sigh, letting her head fall onto her folded arms for a moment before she looked back up at him.

"Yeah? What happened?" The role felt familiar; she was often the confider, the one who needed to vent about her day. At the same time though, it was as if she needed him to prompt her, to let her know he was willing to listen.

He earned a weary smile for carrying out his part of the dance, and she continued, "Sookie had this whole menu planned out: barbequed pork, coleslaw, baked beans." She paused and added, by way of explanation, "She learned somewhere how to smoke meat on the grill. Anyway, it was going to be this whole southern theme. But then Jackson brought kale."

"Kale?" He never knew where her stories were going.

"Yeah, he said the collards weren't quite ready to be picked, but that the kale was fresh. Sookie went into one of her menu freak-outs and decided we needed to change the whole theme to Portuguese."

"Portuguese?"

"Of course, because now everything had to revolve around the Portuguese Kale Soup she needed to make. So, she decided to make a chicken dish, and some other stuff," Lorelai waved her hand in a gesture of dismissal. "All I know is that I had to track down chorizo sausage, change the decorations from little cowboy hats to Portuguese flags, and figure out how to save the barbequed pork before she tossed it."

"Tossed it? She really would have thrown it out?" he asked, astonished.

"Well, I usually can rescue stuff before it gets that far."

"Then what?"

"Let's just say that the cooking staff that works on her off days has learned to be very creative with what they're given to work with," she said with the air of someone used to dealing with the eccentricities of those she worked with.

He'd always been amazed at the initiative and resourcefulness she exhibited in her life and at the inn. What continued to surprise him was how she took all of that for granted, and brushed off praise matter-of-factly. He couldn't think how to respond so he cut her a piece of pie and slid it across the counter.

She looked up, wide-eyed. "What's this for?"

"You like pie," he said simply.

She nodded. "I do like pie, but you're not usually so forthcoming with the artery-clogging, heart-attack inducing-"

"Lorelai, just eat the pie," he cut in, just this side of gruff. She raised her eyebrows slightly, and he added softly, "You just looked like you could use some pie."

She favored him with a long, thoughtful look, took a bite, and then nodded again. "You were right. Thank you, Luke."

The serious tone in her voice warmed him, and he realized that he'd forgotten that they were supposed to be uncomfortable with each other, still in the awkward aftermath of their date. "You know, Mia's lucky to have you running the place, keeping Sookie from running the business into the ground."

"It's not like that," she protested, then gestured toward him. "You know what it's like running a restaurant. Don't you ever have leftovers, or try something new that doesn't work out…or make mistakes?"

Luke answered as if ticking off the list in his head. "Leftovers go to the food pantry… when's the last time I made something new?" He paused to let Lorelai get in a little chuckle. "And generally Kirk eats any mistakes."

"Ah, so you've got it all figured out then?"

"It's just not so complicated around here, but that's why Sookie is a chef at an inn and I run a diner."

"Well, I think that running a diner is pretty impressive too." She grinned. "Especially since people still think it's a hardware store."

He pretended to be annoyed at her crack, but he could feel himself flushing a little. "No one is confused. It looks like a diner and smells like a diner. A diner with the same menu every day. Not at all like cooking different fancy meals every day."

"Oy with the comparing. You're a great cook. Sookie's a great cook." He shrugged and she confessed, "But it is exhausting keeping up with her sometimes." Her expression brightened into one of amusement. "Though I have to say, it might all be worth it just to see her arguing with Jackson."

Luke chuckled, having witnessed himself one or two vegetable arguments between Sookie and Jackson.

"The way those two go at each other, I'm thinking there's something more than just a cook/vegetable guy vibe. Makes me think he should just go ahead and kiss her or ask her out already…" Lorelai's eyes widened and her voice trailed off as she realized what she'd said.

It was as though someone had flicked a switch and in the briefest instant of time had dispelled the soft light of comfort with a harsh brightness and exposed the horrible awkwardness that had settled over them ever since their ill-fated date. He could see Lorelai opening her mouth to speak, probably about to fill the empty air with the kinds of meaningless nervous rambles he'd heard more often than not recently.

He didn't think that he could bear it, so he muttered, "I used the last filter. I'm going to go get some more before I forget."

The words were enough to still her, and he watched her try to compose herself as he turned toward the stockroom.

He returned to find her plate pushed away, the pie unfinished. She sat leaning on her elbows, her chin on her folded hands, facing away from him as she gazed out the window. If not for her drooping shoulders and defeated air, he'd think she were just resting, or thoughtful.

He walked around the outside of the counter, coming up beside her, saying, "Hey. You okay?" As he finished his question, he reached his hand to her shoulder. Halfway there, he thought to wonder how she'd react, but he rested his hand on her shoulder anyway.

He almost expected her to flinch, or shrug him off, but she surprised him by relaxing, almost leaning into his touch, as she turned slowly toward him.

She didn't answer, but eyed his hand still resting on her shoulder curiously, almost wary.

He slid his hand down her arm, and held her elbow gently. He saw her uncertainty. She looked as though she were about to say something, but Luke didn't want her to fill the air with empty words. With gentle pressure on her elbow, he leaned down, watching her expression change to what he hoped was surprise, rather than fear. He pressed his lips to hers softly, letting them linger there only briefly before pulling away ever so slightly.

Her eyes were closed and she hadn't shrunk away, so he raised his other hand to slip underneath her hair, sliding down until his fingers landed at the point where her neck met her shoulder. He closed the distance for another kiss, this time feeling her yield to him.

He trailed his thumb down her throat, and she whimpered in response, parting her lips in invitation. He couldn't help but smile as he mumbled against her mouth, "Maybe there's something there, after all."

Lorelai pulled away a bit, ducking her head in what he assumed was embarrassment or shyness.

When she didn't look up, he pulled a stool up behind him and sat down slowly. Reaching out, he tapped the back of his hand on her knee. "Lorelai?"

She lifted her head, tucking a few loose curls behind her ear. Her expression was anguished. "Oh Luke, why'd you have to go and do that? We were…were…"

"Pretending?" he said dully.

She just shook her head back and forth a few times, "Luke, don't..."

"Don't what?" he asked. When she didn't answer, he looked down at his feet and said quietly, evenly, "I don't want to pretend anymore."

"But we can't do this," she whispered.

He looked at her, willing her to lift her head. "Why?"

"It will ruin everything."

"How do you know?" he asked, unable to keep the irritation out of his voice.

She gave a defeated sigh. "It just will."

He shook his head as she slid off the stool and walked away. Just before she reached the door, he said softly, "You never know if you don't try." She paused for a moment, without looking back, before pulling the door open and slipping outside.

He wasn't sure if she was upset with him for rocking the boat, or at herself for liking it.

_Next: Luke gets fed up_


	6. Ch 5 Two days later

**Disclaimer: **All I own are the DVDs.

**Author's Note:** Sorry for the delay in getting this chapter posted. The finale got my muse a little distracted. Thanks so much to **bridges** and **Lula** for the beta. You guys are fantastic.

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**Two Days Later**

Luke hadn't seen Lorelai for two weeks. Well, sixteen days to be precise. Not that he was counting.

Except that he was.

He knew that it had been nine days since he stopped looking up when the bell rang over the door.

He knew that five days ago he stopped keeping a pot of coffee on after the diner closed.

He knew that two days ago, as soon as the last customer had left, he'd flipped the sign to closed, locked the door, turned out the light, and had gone upstairs without glancing back.

He hated the myriad ways he was giving into the situation and becoming the guy who sat back and let everything change around him.

It was ironic that _she_ hadn't wanted anything to change, hadn't wanted to ruin what they had, considering that her insistence on that is what seemed to have made things go spectacularly wrong.

After days of missing her, he started to wonder if he really _might_ be able to push aside what he felt to salvage their friendship. The sadness he felt at that thought made it all the more clear he didn't want to give up hope for something more.

At this moment, however, they had nothing, and the longer they went without talking, the more discouraged he felt, and the more sure he became that nothing would happen unless he initiated it.

So, on the sixteenth day after their kiss, he decided not to be the guy who sat back and let life happen to him.

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Once Luke chose a course of action, he didn't let himself think about it any more, in case he managed to talk himself out of it. After a quick errand, he prepared some food, packed it into a bag, and left the uncharacteristically quiet diner in Caesar's hands. 

He didn't take the truck, because the physical action of walking felt more decisive, more assertive than driving, and breathing the crisp October air strengthened his resolve.

When he got to her house, he willed himself up the front stairs and gave a quick sharp knock. Through the glass, he could see her silhouette moving to the door and could hear that she was calling out something to Rory. As she opened it, her attention was still directed toward the kitchen and he could hear the playfulness in her voice.

She turned her head to him and froze. He could see the strain in her hand, her knuckles whitening as she gripped the door. "Luke?" she asked softly, shock written all over her face. "What are you doing here?"

"I…uh…" He lifted one of the bags he carried, as if it would answer the question. "I brought you some food."

"Why?"

Unsure, he said stupidly, "You haven't been to the diner."

She looked toward her feet for a moment, "I know."

"I thought you might be hungry." It was laughable really, as if he thought they were sitting here starving.

She gave him a curious look and asked, "So you just brought dinner?"

He faltered. "If you're…I can go. I shouldn't have just shown up. You're probably busy." Here was the flaw in his idea. Once he'd settled on a plan, he'd just acted. He hadn't really considered whether or not she'd invite him in, hadn't expected her to question it.

"No, don't go." She chuckled nervously, "Rory and I were just about to figure out what to do for dinner."

"I brought food for her too."

She gave him a hesitant smile. "Thanks. That's nice…Well, come on in," she said slowly, waving him inside. She waited a moment for him to shut the door before she started walking toward the kitchen, calling, "Rory, the decision is made."

"No Mom, not Chinese again. I'm so tired of Chinese," Rory complained.

"Well good, 'cause it's not Chinese."

"What are you-" Rory stopped short when Luke followed Lorelai tentatively into the kitchen. "Luke!" Her surprise was evident, but she gave him a genuine smile as she said, "Hey, it's good to see you."

"You too," he said, then nodded toward the bag in his hand. "I brought you some food." Though she was still smiling, she looked confused, so he added. "You two haven't been into the diner."

Rory gave a small nod and said slowly, "Well, good. I think you've just saved us from yet another night of Chinese take-out." In spite of her initial disbelief, she headed for the cabinet to get out plates and glasses as if it were the most normal thing in the world for Luke to show up with dinner when they hadn't spoken to him in two weeks.

Her easy acceptance of the situation made him wonder what she knew – how much Lorelai had told her about the disastrous date or the night in the diner. As he unloaded the burgers and fries onto their table, he saw Rory tip her head toward him and give her mother a questioning look. Lorelai responded with a shrug that clearly said, 'I don't know,' as she searched the refrigerator for beverages.

From behind the door of the fridge, Lorelai said to Luke, "Looks like we have water or beer."

"Water sounds good."

"I think we have some lemonade in the cabinet that we could mix up," Rory offered, reaching for a glass.

"Water's fine," he replied.

Lorelai filled their glasses from the water cooler, and then gestured nervously toward the table. "Well, I guess we should sit." She looked up and met his eyes. "Thanks for the food, Luke." There was warmth in her expression and though he could see tension in her movements and hear it in her words, he could tell that she was touched by his gesture.

He gave a small smile and a little shrug. "You're welcome."

It pleased him to see the way that Lorelai and Rory eagerly attacked their burgers and fries. He thought he heard Rory mumble something about missing the diner, but he couldn't be sure. He was determined not to repeat the experience of the awful date, so before the silence grew uncomfortable, he turned to Rory and asked, "So, how's it going at your new school?"

She smiled and answered, "It's going really well, now that I'm finally caught up."

"Caught up?"

"Well, I started the year late."

"And then there was the deer," Lorelai added brightly.

Rory rolled her eyes. "You're _never_ going to tire of this story, are you?"

"Oh, come on," Lorelai said, "even you have to admit it's pretty ridiculous." Luke looked at her curiously and she explained, "Rory got hit by a deer."

"Hit _by_ a deer? Isn't that-"

Rory sighed, obviously having made this clarification many times. "I was actually at a stop sign and the deer ran into me." She glanced at her mother. "It really is getting old, Mom."

"But it's such a good story. Best excuse for missing a test ever."

Luke looked at Rory with concern. "You missed a test?"

Rory nodded. "I was late for a test, so my teacher wouldn't let me take it."

"After we had stayed up the _whole_ night studying too," Lorelai added. "We fell asleep at the kitchen table and woke up late, so Rory took the car. That's why the whole thing with the deer happened in the first place."

"We?" Luke asked, looking at Lorelai.

"I was quizzing her," Lorelai answered matter-of-factly. She pointed at Rory and continued proudly, "This girl knew everything there was to know about Shakespeare."

Luke couldn't help but be impressed at how much of her life Lorelai gave to Rory. It came through in the casual way that she talked about staying up late to help her daughter study – as if she'd never have considered otherwise. He gave her a warm smile, which she returned, though her expression became questioning as his gaze lingered.

He shifted his attention to Rory. "So, that's it? You couldn't take it?"

She nodded again. "But I got an extra credit assignment to make up for it."

"A reeaaalllly looonnng extra credit assignment," Lorelai whined. "She had to ignore me for a whole weekend to finish it."

"That must have been torture for you," Luke said with a smirk before turning to Rory, "I guess it's good you were able to make it up."

"Yeah. Mr. Medina's pretty nice. Isn't he, Mom?"

Lorelai nodded as she stood up and headed toward the water cooler. "Uh…yeah, he seems to be one of the sane ones at that place." She glanced inside the bag from the diner as she passed the counter. "You brought pie!" she said, beaming at Luke. Then she pointed at the second bag, giving a confused frown. "And a movie?"

"I just thought you guys like movies."

"We _do_ like movies," Lorelai said, as she looked over at Rory. Luke saw them exchange questioning glances again and worried that he'd been presumptuous, inviting himself over like this.

Before he had a chance to say anything, Lorelai asked skeptically, "So…_you_ went to the video store?"

"Seemed like the best place to get a video," he said dryly.

"I'm trying to imagine you browsing at the video store. What'd you get?" Luke gestured for her to look in the bag. After a quick glance, she cried, "Seriously?"

"What's wrong?" he asked, worried.

"Nothing," Lorelai answered excitedly. "You got _The Princess Bride_? It's a great movie, and we haven't seen it in _ages_." She narrowed her eyes and looked at him skeptically. "_You_ picked out a movie called The Princess Bride? Seriously? Do you have any idea what it's about?" He tried to speak up but she gestured with her hand to quiet him. "Hold on, I'm trying to picture this. You're standing there, and if you got this movie you had to be standing near _Pretty in Pink_, but because it had 'pink' in the title, you opted for the video with the less-but-hardly-less girly title that has not only the word 'bride' in it, but also the word 'princess.'" Lorelai seemed barely able to hold back her laughter and Rory had the beginning of a grin on her face.

He would have been more annoyed if it weren't the first time in weeks that he'd heard genuine laughter from her. He responded with a gruffness that was as much pretense as anything, "Lorelai, I've seen it. I got it because it seemed like something you guys would like."

He saw a hint of surprise on her face at the idea that he's successfully chosen something they'd enjoy. Her expression softened as she admitted, "Well, it's a good choice." Looking thoughtful, she tilted her head to the side and asked, "Are you going to watch it with us?"

"If you want…If it's okay. I didn't mean…"

"I'll take that as a yes," Lorelai said, as she and Rory shared a grin.

After their moment of amusement at Luke's expense, Rory looked at her mom. "I don't think that I'm going to be able to watch it, though." She slid away from the table, moving to put her plate and glass into the sink.

"Why?"

"Well, I told Lane I'd come over."

"Oh," Lorelai said, her voice falling almost imperceptibly.

"Yeah, she mentioned that she could use some help studying for her biology test tomorrow, so I was going to go over there… "

"Do you have to go now?" Lorelai asked, her face growing worried.

"There's pie," Luke said weakly.

"You'll miss Cary Elwes anemic little mustache," Lorelai added.

"That's okay. I'm pretty full now. Maybe if there's some pie left, you could save it for me? I'll be back in a couple of hours." Rory picked up her backpack out of her bedroom and headed for the door while Lorelai stared after her.

When she turned back to Luke, she looked a little dumbstruck. "She just turned down pie."

Luke stared back at Lorelai as the suddenness of being alone with her hit him. It appeared that she was having the same realization. He could hear the clock on the stove clicking off seconds in the silence.

"Well, I'll have some pie," she said hastily, as the silence wore on. "I never turn down pie."

"No, you really don't."

She got up quickly to grab some plates from the cabinet.

"Here, I can…" he said, taking them from her.

"You'll need…a knife," she stammered, her voice rushed.

As he pulled out the pie and opened the container, he could hear her rummaging through the silverware drawer. Eventually she handed him what appeared to be a very old steak knife and two forks. Without any more to do, she looked flustered. He could feel her eyes on him while he cut the pie and then, he heard her say nervously, "Hey, do you want a beer? I think I'm going to have a beer."

"Sure, a beer would be good."

She pulled two beers from the fridge, opened them, and walked over to him just as he plated a piece of pie for each of them. It was a sign of her nervousness that she didn't tease him about the fact that he'd cut a piece of pie for himself. They both stood there, with their hands full, looking at each other for a moment before he said, "Should we eat here, or," he gestured toward the living room, "in there?"

"I guess in there, so we can start the movie."

He nodded and she transferred one beer to her other hand to leave a hand free to pick up the bag from the video store. When she got to the living room, she set the drinks down on the coffee table and pulled the video out of the bag. "I still can't believe you brought a movie."

"We don't have to…I mean, if you don't want to watch it. It was just an idea."

"No, it's good. It's a great movie. I want to watch it." He heard the words, and even believed them, but he could tell that she still wasn't comfortable being alone with him. She put the tape in and then stood rigidly in the middle of the living room as she mashed buttons on the remote.

He placed the plates on the coffee table, but then regretted not having something to occupy his hands, as he too stood awkwardly, unsure if he should sit yet.

Once she had fast-forwarded through the previews, Lorelai seemed to realize they were still standing. She gestured at the sofa. "Um…we should…sit."

He nodded and settled himself at the far end of the sofa, folding his arms across his chest. She sat down at the other end of the couch, leaning against the arm with her legs tucked underneath her.

They watched the first few minutes of the movie in relative silence, periodically exchanging nervous glances. Luke was glad for the distraction of his pie during the initial kissing scenes, and the fact that he finished the pie was a clear indicator of the level of his nervousness. The longer the silence between them stretched, the more uncomfortable Luke became. He still hadn't figured out exactly what he had hoped to accomplish by coming here, but recreating their horrendous date had not been a part of the plan.

In a desperate attempt to break the ice, he said softly, "Lorelai?"

"Yeah," she said, turning to him.

"You okay?"

She nodded, her expression confused, "Yeah, why?"

"You're just…quiet. I sort of figured you'd spend the whole movie mocking and commenting." He kept his voice light, teasing.

She gave him a little smile, "Maybe I was trying to spare you. Keep you from complaining about me yammering on."

"Ahh. Well, thanks for that, I guess."

"Or maybe it's just that this movie does such a good job of mocking itself, my comments are superfluous."

"Superfluous?"

"You know, unnecessary, extraneous."

"I know what it means. It's just sort of an obscure word."

"Hey, you don't think I know obscure words? I'll have you know that Rory's been teaching me all sorts of useless vocabulary. Stupid SAT words and rich kids school."

He chuckled. "All the better for your yammering."

She glared at him playfully. "Are we going to watch the movie or what?"

He grinned as he turned back toward the movie again. This time, the silence that followed felt more companionable and less tense.

The relative quiet continued until the 'Man in Black' on the screen pulled himself over the edge of the cliff and prepared for the sword fight with the Spaniard. Lorelai smiled and sat up as if in anticipation. Luke caught her eye and smiled.

"What?" she asked.

He gave a casual shrug. "I'm glad you like it."

"Are you kidding? It's a classic." She lowered her voice, and intoned, "Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

"And so it begins," Luke muttered under his breath.

"What?"

"I knew you couldn't really stay quiet that long," he teased.

"Hey!" she protested indignantly. "How can you possibly watch this without talking. We've got the whole 'I am not left-handed. I am not left-handed either' thing going on. And then there's that great bit with the giant."

"I thought you were going to let the movie mock itself."

"I think I'm going to help out a bit."

"Imagine my surprise," he said, shaking his head in amusement, but secretly relieved that the ice seemed to have been broken further. For the next several minutes, Lorelai was in her element, talking along with the dialogue and making witty observations.

At one point she laughed, and he looked over at her. "What?"

"This whole Dread Pirate Roberts thing. He doesn't look like the dread pirate anything. He's got that silly mask, _and_ he's got both hands and legs. Where's the eye patch, buddy? Or the hook?"

Luke just shook his head and chuckled as she continued to taunt. He was so wrapped up watching Lorelai amuse herself that when Buttercup and Westley threw themselves into their passionate reunion kiss the sudden uneasiness took him by surprise.

He hadn't realized just how weird it was going to be watching people kissing while sitting on the sofa with Lorelai. Part of the reason he'd chosen this movie was that it seemed rather tame in that regard. So as the kissing continued, he focused just to the side of the television screen, trying to hide his discomfort and hoping for the scene to pass quickly. And it would have if the stupid sick kid hadn't drawn so much attention to it.

'_They're kissing again, do we have to hear the kissing part?'_ I'm with you on that one, Luke thought.

He heard the grandfather respond, '_Someday, you may not mind so much_.'

"That's right, kid. Just wait 'til you meet Winnie Cooper and you'll learn just how wonderful kissing can be."

It took Luke a moment to realize Lorelai had spoken, and another moment to realize that he had no idea what she meant. Except that she'd said something about kissing being wonderful. He looked at her, confused, and asked, "What?"

"Huh?" She looked just as confused.

"Who's Winnie Cooper? You said…"

He saw recognition dawn across her features the moment she realized that she'd said something potentially awkward. Though she caught herself quickly, her voice was hurried and flustered. "Winnie Cooper, Kevin Arnold?" When he showed no sign of recognition, she continued, talking quickly while pointing at the TV. "That kid, Fred Savage, was in _The Wonder Years_. He was Kevin Arnold and Winnie was the first girl he ever kissed, after her brother died in Vietnam." She looked up and he shrugged.

She looked a little disappointed, but then shrugged herself. "I shouldn't be surprised. It's not the kind of thing you'd expect a twenty-something guy to watch." She sighed. "I used to watch it with Rory when she was little. Mia would let us watch TV if there was a room that wasn't being used. We usually just watched whatever was on. We weren't too particular, except for Wednesday nights we had to watch _The Wonder Years_. There was something about watching kids grow up in the sixties. Things were complicated, but they were simple at the same time. I don't know, I guess it was just a nice world to immerse ourselves in once a week." She looked up again, suddenly shy, as if she was worried she'd revealed too much.

He nodded encouragingly. "It sounds nice."

She smiled. "It was. You know, it's funny. I remember thinking that everyone I knew in high school was probably drinking beers while they watched _90210_ or _Melrose Place_ and there I was in an empty room at the inn watching _The Wonder Years_ with my daughter."

"You were probably having more fun."

"Yeah," she said, nodding as she gave him a warm smile. "I think we were."

Before they had a chance to have another one of their undefined mutual gazes, Lorelai made some comment about the action on the screen and brought their attention back to the movie.

Luke felt a subtle shift in the atmosphere then. They'd managed to dissipate their fear with jokes at the start of the movie, but tension had remained, obvious in the stiff way they were sitting and the occasional nervous glances Lorelai kept giving him. But now much of the tension had faded as well. Lorelai relaxed further into the couch, and she met his glances with easy smiles.

He felt like he'd passed a test, though he wasn't sure if her sharing of the anecdote was the test itself or the reward.

After a few more minutes, Lorelai asked, "Hey Luke? Can you toss me that pillow that's sitting on the chair?"

"Sure," he said, stretching to reach the pillow and then handing it to Lorelai.

She laid it against the arm of the couch, fluffing it briefly. Still propped on her elbow, she looked back at him. "Thanks."

"No problem." He paused, looking at her, wondering if he'd outstayed his welcome. He had shown up unannounced, after all. "If you're, y'know, if you're tired, I can go."

"No, I'm good. I'm just getting comfortable."

Luke nodded and she relaxed onto the pillow. As she adjusted her position, her feet brushed his leg and she startled, "Sorry. I don't need to hog the whole couch."

He put his hand on her leg to still her. "You're fine. Don't move on my account." He left his hand there as emphasis and she nodded and relaxed again into the pillow. Though she seemed willing to stay put, he continued to let his arm rest across her legs, his hand curled loosely around her right ankle. He let it stay there for a few seconds, then a minute, then a few minutes, wondering the whole time if she was annoyed by it.

He'd finally managed to convince himself that if Lorelai didn't want him to be touching her she would have done something about it, when he heard her ask, "Luke, why did you come here tonight?" He looked over at her, but she continued to look straight at the screen.

She'd spoken quietly, and if he'd wanted to stall for time he could have asked what she'd said. But he'd definitely heard her, so he shrugged and said softly, "I wanted to see you." When she didn't respond, he added, "I just don't like how things are."

"Okay," she said slowly and then, after a long pause, added, "Neither do I." He could hear a little relief in her voice, though he wasn't sure what she was relieved about.

A few minutes later, she spoke up again, just as abruptly, "So, are we…is this a date?"

In his surprise at her question, he just stammered, "I don't ..uh…no, not a date."

She nodded and there was another long pause, long enough so that he thought she'd been satisfied with his answer. But then she spoke again, "I just…I don't know what it means that you're here. It's okay that you're here. You've been here before. But we're watching a movie and we've never done that before and I didn't even know that you liked movies…" Her voice was small as it started to trail off. When she spoke again, Luke could barely hear her over the sound of the movie. "And you're…we're sitting here all comfortable on the couch…"

He somehow knew that she was thinking about his hand on her leg, which suddenly felt very large and heavy against her ankle. He thought maybe he should move it, but that would draw attention to the fact that it was there, and that he was thinking about it being there. So instead, he repeated, "I just wanted to see you."

"You said that…but…why? What are we doing here?" For the first time since she'd asked why he was here, she looked over at him, her head propped up on her hand, gesturing between them as she spoke.

He sighed, suddenly feeling like he was at a decision point. The situation reminded him of exploring the woods around the family cabin in the summers. He'd always get to a point where he would have to decide whether to go forward into a place he'd never been, or go back to the familiar parts of the woods. He would sometimes stand there for minutes at a time trying to decide what to do. The indecision he felt now reminded him of those moments, though this situation felt more momentous than wandering the woods as a child.

"I don't know," he confessed. He could sense Lorelai's frustration, could almost see her mentally groping for the question that would actually get them to the issue at hand. It was almost the same frustration he heard from Liz, when she'd accompanied him on his walks. He'd always been cautious, and she'd been adventurous, so it had never been any surprise to him at all that he was more likely to forge ahead if she were there urging him along.

Lorelai spoke again and though she whispered the words, he could hear them clearly, "You kissed me."

He tried to swallow, but his throat felt suddenly dry. "I know."

"Why?" she asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" he asked, his voice pained.

She let out a defeated sigh, her shoulders sagging at his reluctance to answer her questions directly.

He felt himself standing in those imaginary woods again, looking into the unknown and then back toward home. In this current situation, he knew the way back and he knew what was waiting for him there. It was safe. He just wasn't sure it could make him happy.

But the way ahead looked uncharted, full of poison ivy, prickly bushes, and unknown terrain. And he didn't know where it led.

It did, however, look far more interesting.

He took a deep breath, looking down and rubbing his thumb on an imaginary spot on his knee. "I like you…have feelings for you. And I know that it's possible that you don't," he looked up at her briefly, "have feelings for me." He looked down again. "So if you don't…" he sighed, "I'll get over it. But if you do-"

"You can do that?" she cut in.

"What?"

"Get over it?"

For a moment he thought she was asking him to do just that, but then he caught a touch of hurt in her expression, as if she were wondering if he could get over her so easily.

"I don't know," he admitted, lifting his eyes to her as he continued. "But if that's what you wanted, I would try." She looked back at him with an unreadable expression. He sighed and ducked his head. "I just…if we both feel something, I don't understand the point in ignoring it."

"Rory said the same thing," she said quietly.

"Rory?"

"That day with the list."

He wanted to know more about the list, and about that day, but she didn't go on. He didn't know how to respond and she'd given no indication, so he waited, watching her pick at the edge of the couch cushion.

Still looking away from him, she said, "I do."

"What?"

"Like you…have feelings…whatever." She had twisted enough so that he could see her face, though it was partly hidden behind her shoulder. She gestured with her hand as she spoke.

"Yeah?" he said, unable to help the smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth. Though he tried to hide it, she saw it and gave a little smile of her own, and then a very small nod, as if she'd been reluctant to admit it. He didn't realize that his grip had tightened on her ankle, until she propped herself up into a sitting position. He started to move his hand, but before he had a chance, she covered it with her own and adjusted her position, flipping her left leg so that she was sitting cross-legged next to him.

He turned his hand to take hers more fully into his own, but then just looked at her, not having any idea what to do now that they'd confessed their feelings. This was truly uncharted territory, sitting here holding Lorelai's hand after they had both confessed feelings for each other. It was suddenly nothing like wandering the woods around the family cabin. Rather, the terrain he pictured in his mind was steep, rocky, and dangerous.

She looked just as uncertain, sitting there looking back at him. After a few moments, she slipped her hand out of his, reaching to palm his cheek while holding his arm with her other hand and using it to pull herself to her knees. Slowly, she leaned in and kissed him gently. Her arm slipped further around his shoulder and the hand that was warm on his face slid around so that her fingers could tangle in the hair poking out from beneath his hat.

He felt his arms envelope her almost unconsciously, one high around her shoulders, the other at her waist. He resisted the urge to crush her against his chest, letting her take the lead, letting her lips play over his. She pulled back slightly, saying teasingly. "I guess you _were_ waiting for an invitation."

Luke loosened his embrace and let her sit back on her heels, watching her chest rise and fall with each breath, seeing her lips curve into a small smile.

"What did you expect?" Though he kept his voice gentle, he could hear the defensive tone. "When I kissed you before, you ran off."

She nodded and her smile faded. "I know," she said, fidgeting with her hands in her lap.

"Why?"

She didn't respond right away, and when she did her voice was uncharacteristically quiet. "We had that horrible date…" She looked up as if she expected him to argue, but he just gave her a wry smile, and she shrugged. "And it just seemed like that was a sign, you know, that we were just supposed to be friends."

"Just because we had one bad date?"

"I was afraid it would get worse, and we'd end up hating each other." He shook his head in response and she shrugged again. "So, we were friends and I thought we were both okay with that, but I guess we really weren't."

"But you were still convinced it wouldn't work?" he asked.

"Things don't usually work out very well when I like a boy."

"I'm not a boy, Lorelai." His voice felt deeper than usual, almost forceful.

That earned him a sly smile, and an appreciative glance. "No, no, you're not."

He chuckled, but then grew serious, "So, what changed?"

She took a breath and let it out slowly. "When I ran away, you came to find me…" Lorelai's eyes dropped back to where her hands lay in her lap. "Most guys don't."

"Their loss," he said softly, and in a moment of unusual decisiveness he reached for her and pulled her toward him, his arms wrapping around her again as he kissed her tenderly. She responded in turn, leaning against his chest.

With that step, he'd thrown himself further along the path, further away from the safety of home. And because he'd spent the evening watching a movie with Lorelai, the path seemed to include one of those rickety bridges with the rope and the missing planks that movie heroes always seemed to run into at the most inopportune times. And, though he wasn't entirely sure he trusted it to carry him across unscathed, and he still didn't know what was on the other side, he stepped out onto it just the same.

This time he didn't worry about crushing her to him. And this time when she parted her lips he didn't mumble stupid words to ruin the moment; he took the invitation. After a few minutes of blissful kissing and increasingly assertive hand-roaming, he pulled back so that he could look at her.

He brushed his thumb across her cheek. "You okay? Is _this_ okay?" he asked, pointing back and forth between the two of them.

She smiled. "You mean the kissing?"

"Yeah, the kissing." He hesitated. "and…whatever…"

"I'm definitely down with the kissing," she said with a grin, and then, looking at him for emphasis, added, "definitely. I'm a little worried about what happens after the kissing."

He looked at her with concern. "We don't have to…I'm not expecting...

"Oh I'm not talking about _that_," Lorelai chuckled as she let her fingers trail down the front of his shirt. "I'm totally okay with _that_. Very good with it, in fact."

"Well…uh…good," he stammered. "Then, what?"

"It's the rest of it," she said with a grimace as she settled back on her heels again. "It's the dating/relationship part I'm not that good at."

Watching Lorelai, with her sexy smile and her exploring fingers, Luke suddenly had clarity. He got her – or at least this bit of her. He'd never doubted that Lorelai enjoyed sex, was comfortable with sex. With all the innuendo that floated around with her he sensed that she had a healthy appreciation for the giving and receiving of pleasure (and there was a thought that would have made him weak in the knees had he been standing).

But he could also tell – and he knew from watching her – that she didn't let herself get emotionally invested in men she dated. He knew she dated. He'd heard enough snippets of her conversations with Sookie or Rory, or overheard Miss Patty and Babette's gossiping, to know that she had her share of dates. She'd even shared some of her more amusing dating anecdotes with him. But she'd never seemed to let any of those dates into her Stars Hollow life, never brought them to town functions, or introduced them to Rory, as far as he could tell. And she'd never referred to anyone as her boyfriend.

He wasn't sure what that meant for him. Sure, he wasn't complaining about the idea of getting physical with Lorelai. No, not complaining at all. It's just that he wanted more than sex and he hoped that she did too.

With that thought in mind, he reached up to still her hands, wrapping them in his and holding them against his chest. "So, what are you worried about?"

She shrugged and looked down at their entwined hands as she said softly, "Rory said that if I dated you, that we'd break up and we'd never be able to eat at the diner again."

He responded with surprise, "_Rory_ said that? I thought she…"

"Well, her thoughts on the matter haven't been entirely consistent."

He considered for a moment and then said simply, "It matters what she thinks." Lorelai looked up at him and he could tell from the warmth in her eyes that she appreciated his consideration of her daughter's feelings. "Would this bother her?"

"I don't think so…" She looked at him hesitantly.

"But?" he asked.

"What if she was right?"

He gave her hands a squeeze and let out a sigh, "You'll always be able to come to the diner."

She smiled ruefully, "That's easy to say now."

"We'll never know if we don't try."

"I think I've heard that somewhere before," she said, giving him an uncertain half smile. "So, what happens now?"

"I don't know, but I'd like to take you out again." He paused for a second, frowning. "Actually, no. I don't want to take you out again."

She looked shocked. And hurt.

"That's not what I meant," he said apologetically. "I just…well, you were there. I don't want to take you out and have it be awkward all over again. How about if we try something different? Let me make you dinner here or something. Maybe for you and Rory."

"It's not much of a date if Rory's here. Besides, Rory never meets anyone I date."

He raised his eyebrows and said dryly, "You are aware that I've met Rory, right?"

She gave him an exasperated look. "I just figured if we were going to do this that we'd want an opportunity to be alone. Maybe you could make me dinner at your place." She teased him with a suggestive look, leaving him wondering just how much to read into her flirtation.

He swallowed thickly. "We could do that."

"Good. It sounds like a plan." She glanced over at the TV and he followed her gaze. Finding the movie credits rolling, he gave a little chuckle, and she quipped, "Well, I guess we broke the 'no interruptions during the movie' rule. It's a good thing we've both seen it before."

"I'd like to think they were worthy interruptions."

She grinned. "_Very_ worthy." She punctuated the thought with a few kisses, but then pulled back, saying, "Rory's going to come home soon. I don't want her to walk in on…"

"You making out with the diner guy?" he finished.

She responded with a smile, but then her expression grew serious. "You're not 'the diner guy.' You're _Luke_."

He liked the way that she emphasized his name, the significance she gave it. Like he was special. But something in her voice made him wonder if that was something that worked for or against him.

"Well, either way, she'd probably be permanently scarred," he said lightly, trying not to think too hard about what she'd meant, "so I should get going." He pointed at the TV. "I can take the video back."

"Okay." She nodded and retrieved the video from the machine and then followed him to the door, tapping the tape against the heel of her hand. "So…uh…here," she said, handing him the tape. "Thanks for dinner and the movie." She hesitated, then smiled. "I'm glad you came over tonight."

"So am I."

Somehow, even though they'd been relatively comfortable with each other a moment ago, the abrupt transition had brought back their nervousness. He stood awkwardly, trying to determine if the situation called for a goodnight kiss. Lorelai solved his dilemma by resting her hand on his shoulder and pressing her lips to his. He responded by pulling her into his arms, cradling the back of her head in his hand as he returned her kiss.

When he pulled back, he heard her mumble, "Well, at least we know that part seems to work."

He smiled. "It most certainly does."

"I'm just not sure about the rest of it," she said sadly.

"We'll figure it out," he said, more confidently than he felt.

"Yeah?" she asked. "How do you know?"

He took a deep breath and said slowly, "Because the last two weeks sucked."

Her expression softened, "They really, really did."

"So, will I see you at the diner tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Me and Rory both."

"Good," he said as he opened her front door. "Night, Lorelai,"

"Night, Luke."

Luke couldn't help smiling as he walked back home through the cool night air. He knew that during the events of the evening, he'd committed to a path, and had started on a treacherous journey. And though he knew that the further he let himself go into the unknown the higher the possibility was that he'd be hurt, he thought he'd really like to know where the journey led.

Or, at the very least, if they'd survive their second try at a first date.

_To be continued_


	7. Epilogue Six days later

**Disclaimer: **It's a good thing they're not mine, because if this had happened after the second episode it wouldn't have left us with much of a show.

**Author's Note: **I apologize for the long wait before bringing you the final piece of this story. I got sucked into post-finale angst, but this was a nice break from the sadness. Thanks again to **Bridges** and **Lula Bo** for the fantabulous beta skills. I hope you all like this final part.

* * *

**Epilogue – Six days later**

A few days had passed since Luke had shown up on Lorelai's doorstep with dinner and a movie and had left with a kiss and plans to make her dinner. Unfortunately, Caesar had asked for the weekend off, so they'd had to put off their dinner until early the following week. It was a bit of a relief; as eager as Luke was to have a second chance for a first date with Lorelai, he wanted to give her a little time to get used to the idea before they dove back in again.

Because as much as she seemed happy about being together, there was still a little nervousness, a little hesitation. It was similar enough to her post-horrible-date behavior to set off alarm bells. On the other hand, they were good friends starting to date and of course there would be a little awkwardness. Even he'd been having a trouble shifting gears and thinking of Lorelai as the woman he was dating.

Like the way that she'd give him little touches on his arm when they were talking or grab his hand to get his attention. She'd made it seem so natural that he'd started to wonder if she'd been doing that ever since he had known her and was only noticing it now, or if it was something new. Whatever it was, he had definitely noticed it now, and every time he felt the warmth of her fingers on his or slight pressure of her hand on his arm through his flannel, he'd felt a little jolt of optimism that soothed his uneasiness.

Then sometimes he just thought they were both trying too hard: those moments when they were comfortably teasing each other, just as they'd always done, until one or the other of them would suddenly seem to realize that the casual flirting had now taken on a whole new meaning. After awkward stretches of staring and a few stumbling attempts to maintain the banter, the moments of comfort would have passed and they would be right back into awkward pre-second-first-date mode.

So, for the last few days, he'd vacillated between real concern about what her behavior meant and chastising himself for worrying too much. But most of the time he'd just tried to enjoy the fact that she'd been at the diner, sometimes with Rory and sometimes alone. And that when she'd stayed late after closing one night, he'd been able to kiss her good night before she'd slipped out the door to head home.

On the day of their dinner, she showed up mid-afternoon for a coffee fix, lingering over it for a couple of refills. She gave him easy, animated smiles, and since the diner was fairly quiet, she regaled him with stories of the goings-on at the inn.

When Miss Patty came up to the register to pay her bill, she said, "Well, it's nice you two have gotten over your fight and are getting along _so_ well these days." She glanced pointedly at both of them and Luke watched as Lorelai averted her eyes and her cheeks flushed pink.

Lorelai stammered, "We…we weren't fighting. We were-"

Patty cut her off, "Honey, you call it what you like, but we all know that if you don't stop in here at least once a day then all is not right in the world."

"I was just busy at the inn."

"If you say so, dear. I'm just glad to see the two of you looking so friendly again." Before either of them could respond, Patty continued, "Well, I've got to get back to the studio. The little ballerinas are going to be showing up any minute."

Luke saw Lorelai watching as Patty exited, then turning around as the bell signaled the door closing behind her. Lorelai's brow wrinkled and she looked at him with the beginnings of a frown. "Luke, could I talk to you for a minute? In the back or something?"

"Sure," he said, hiding the concern he felt about the worried look on her face. Lorelai slipped off her stool and he led the way back to the storeroom. Once inside, he turned to face her just as she eased the door closed.

They stood and stared at each other for a brief moment before she looked down, seemingly studying her latest manicure carefully. She finally let out a sigh and looked back up at him, asking nervously, "Do they know?" He gave her a blank look and she clarified, "Does the town…do they know that we're…whatever we're doing?"

"I don't think so," he said slowly. "I haven't said anything."

"Well, neither have I, except when I talked to Rory about it, but Patty sure seemed to be hinting." Lorelai went back to examining her fingernails for a moment. Still looking down, she said softly, "I don't think I want them to know." She lifted her head. "I mean, at least not yet."

He nodded, trying not to read too much into her words.

"I just think that they'll make a big deal about it and try to make us king and queen of the pumpkin festival or something."

Luke had to smile at the thought, because the town really was that ridiculous, though he couldn't help but be uneasy about her reluctance to tell people about their relationship. It fed the uncertainty that he'd been carrying around with him for the last several days. At the same time though, he worried about overreacting and pushing her too quickly, so he buried his fears and said gently, "Lorelai, it's okay."

"Yeah?" she asked, giving a small, relieved smile.

"You really think I want the town to know all about my personal life?"

"No, I guess not. So, that's settled then?"

"I guess so."

"And we're good?" she asked, reaching to hold his fingers lightly in hers.

"We're good," he said, very conscious of the warmth of her fingertips. He slipped his hand more firmly around hers, running his thumb across the back of her hand.

Lorelai glanced around the room and then back at Luke, with a mischievous grin, "You know, as long as we're alone…" She leaned in and kissed him soundly, palming his face with her free hand. She pulled back, still smiling. "You've been holding out on me."

"What?"

"We had a couple of really nice kisses at my house, made plans for another date-like activity, and yet since then I've gotten almost no action, buster."

"Action?" he asked, dumbfounded. She nodded, and he sputtered. "I've been…I was trying…"

"I know…but don't."

"Don't?" he asked, understanding taming his astonishment.

"Right," she confirmed, resting her hand heavily on his chest and sliding it up toward his shoulder.

"So, what you're trying to say…" Luke lifted the hand that wasn't wrapped around her fingers up to the back of her head, "is that you want some action?"

She laughed. "I think you've got the right idea." She mumbled the last words against his lips, as she leaned the full length of her body into him.

The sensation of having Lorelai's lips, breasts and hips pressed into him, of having her arm tighten around him made him temporarily forget where he was. Before he knew it, he had her pushed up against the back of the door as he returned her kisses insistently.

He moved to trail kisses down her neck and heard her whisper, "Now that's more like it."

The words brought him back to the present and reminded him where they were. He blinked a few times and finally got out, "I've got to, uh, get back to the diner."

He could see her setting up for a big pout, the corners of her mouth turning down just so, but then she sighed and said, "Well, I guess tonight we'll just have to pick up where we left off." She turned to leave, then stopped with her hand on the door handle. "Okay?"

"Sounds good," he answered, wondering for a moment how they'd gotten from talking about her concerns to full-on making out in what seemed like seconds.

* * *

Later, when Lorelai arrived for dinner, she was dressed casually but he could see the little hints that told him she'd put some effort into her appearance. She wore jewelry and make up, as well as a hint of perfume. Her hair was styled differently than it had been earlier in the day, and she'd changed into a sweater that settled around her curves perfectly. Though he liked to think that none of that mattered to him, he was pleased to see the care that she'd taken. Even the fact that she arrived within a couple of minutes of the time they'd arranged made him feel that she cared about the impression she made.

He had himself debated what to wear, finally trading his flannel for a dark green shirt and changing into his newest pair of jeans. After a moment of staring once she walked in, he realized he must look like a foolish teenager, just standing there, so he smiled and said, "Hey."

"Hey." They stared at each other for a minute and he wondered if she was having the same mental debate he was – whether they were at the kissing-hello stage yet.

She clarified the situation by grabbing his hand and leaning in to give him a quick peck on the cheek. Then she pulled back, smiling. "It smells great in here. Almost like you're cooking real food."

"Real food?" he asked, eyebrows raised.

"You know. Not burgers."

"Ah. Well, you have burgers all the time."

"You know," she started, "you've got real food, the table's set so nicely – and, are those wine glasses?" She tipped her head slightly to the side and quirked her mouth into a grin. "One _might_ think that you were trying to impress me."

"Really? Well, is it working?"

"I don't know," she teased. "There's a noticeable lack of candles."

He laughed, continuing the joke. "I didn't want to go over the top."

Her expression softened. "It's perfect. And seriously, what are you cooking? It really smells fabulous."

"Lasagna, garlic bread, roasted asparagus, salad," he said, ticking them off in his head as he spoke, "and cheesecake for dessert." He saw her eyes light up with the mention of dessert, so he added, "with raspberries and chocolate sauce."

"Yep, definitely impressed."

Dinner passed fairly quickly and though not completely smoothly, they were at least more comfortable in their awkwardness. They acknowledged the little lulls, the occasional times that they didn't quite know what to say next and at the same time didn't know how to be together without conversation. Between the two of them, there seemed to be a determination to get their fledgling relationship through the night in one piece.

And in the comfortable moments, the ones that came more and more frequently as the night went on, she confided her fears about Rory growing closer to her grandparents and Luke confessed that he worried all the time about his sister – where she was and what she was doing. These were things they'd vaguely known about each other, but speaking the words out loud sealed something between them.

In between dinner and dessert, while she cleared the table and he got their cheesecake ready, she started babbling. It wasn't the first time it had happened that night, and he wasn't even sure what she was talking about, but he just stopped what he was doing, took a step closer to her and kissed her. He could sense her surprise, could tell that she'd expected more of a lead-up to the first real kiss of the night. "Just didn't want you to go off about dessert toppings or something," he whispered between kisses. She just chuckled and wrapped her arms around his neck. When he pulled her more tightly against him, he wondered at how simple it suddenly was, when everything up to this point had been so full of tension.

After a few moments, she pulled back abruptly and fixed him with an amused grin, "Hey, are you trying to distract me from dessert?"

He smirked. "I should know better than that, huh?"

"Definitely. Although," she said, playing with the buttons on his shirt, "that was some first rate distraction technique you had going there."

"Yeah?" he asked. "Good to know." He finished cutting their slices of cheesecake – a thin one for him with just raspberries and a thicker one for her with both chocolate sauce and raspberries. After pouring her coffee and his tea, he led them over to the couch.

They ate their dessert in relative silence after Lorelai complimented his choice and then proceeded to try to convince him that the experience was not complete without chocolate sauce.

A bit of the tension had returned to the air, not so much built on uncertainty, but on anticipation. He didn't think it was presumptuous to assume that something was going to happen tonight, especially given the hints Lorelai had thrown at him earlier and the way that she'd been casually reaching out to touch him all night.

In fact, once he finished his cheesecake and placed his plate on the coffee table, he found it difficult not to think about kissing her.

She wasn't making it any easier, what with the way that she very slowly pulled the fork out of her mouth with each bite. By the time she started dragging her fork through the chocolate sauce and licking it off with her tongue, he knew that she was doing it on purpose.

"You done?" he asked, as she ran the last raspberry through the chocolate and popped it into her mouth.

"Why so impatient?" she asked innocently.

"I've just never seen someone take quite that long to eat one piece of cheesecake."

"I'm just savoring the deliciousness. I can't help that you took such a teeny, tiny piece." She gave up on the fork and ran her finger through the chocolate, her eyes locked on his as she sucked the sauce slowly off her finger.

She didn't look at all surprised when he yanked the plate out of her hand, in spite of her indignant, "Hey!"

"What? You're done," he said, looking at her virtually empty plate.

"There's still more chocolate," she protested.

Shaking his head in disbelief, he swept up the rest of the chocolate on his finger, and held it out to her, almost daring her to lick it off. Her eyes widened in surprise, but then her lips turned up into an amused grin as she leaned forward and finished off the last of the sauce, her tongue taking considerably longer than necessary to wipe his finger clean.

Then she leaned back and favored him with a self-satisfied smile. He looked at her for only the briefest of moments before pulling her to him and capturing her lips in a fierce kiss. And based on the way she smiled against his skin, that had been her plan all along.

From that point on, he just let himself fall into the inevitable. She seduced him as much with her bubbling laughter as with her eager lips, and he reciprocated as much with flirtatious banter as with his insistent touches.

When Lorelai had pulled him up from the couch and pushed him toward his bed, he found out that he'd been right about her appreciation of the fine art of pleasure. And that she did, in fact, make his knees weak.

But before it really got started, before he slid inside her and let them both go, he needed her to know that this was more than all that, that whatever this was meant something more to him than carefree sex. So he whispered her name, and when she met his eyes, he tried to let them speak his feelings as best he could.

When she looked back at him, he could see her fear. But she held his gaze.

* * *

Just as she'd had trouble picturing Luke on a date, Lorelai had also had no idea what to expect from him as a lover. She'd been surprised to find him flirtatious and, dare she say, playful. It had been completely unexpected. She'd been able to relax and play along, all the more eagerly for it having been awhile since she'd had sex. After struggling to define their relationship, the role had felt familiar. In this, they'd simply been a man and a woman, and she'd always had a pretty good touch with men.

But just when she'd thought she'd had him all figured out, just when he'd been about to push his way inside her, he'd stopped and brushed her hair from her face, whispering her name in a voice thick with desire and tenderness. She'd opened her eyes to find an expression on his face so adoring it had made her breath catch, made her stomach flutter with excitement, and made her fingertips prickle with fear. It was all she could do to keep her eyes on his.

Afterwards, he slipped the covers up over them and pulled her back against his chest, planting a few kisses on her shoulder and brushing his thumb back and forth across her belly. The lack of direct eye contact tempered the intensity of the moment and let her skittish mind catch up with the pounding of her heart. The strength she could feel in the arms wrapped around her waist comforted her, made her feel like she could overcome the fears and the uncertainties about what they would become.

She felt his lips tickle her ear as he breathed, "You're amazing."

"Back atcha, buddy," she said, tracing random patterns on his arm. She could feel his chest moving in and out as his breathing slowed. "This entire night has been amazing."

"Yeah?" His voice was light, but she could hear the touch of little-boy ego that needed stroking.

She answered with all sincerity. "Yeah. That was a fabulous dinner." Then she added, in a teasing voice, "Especially dessert."

His response was more confident now, "Dessert, huh?"

"Yeah. Who knew you were such a multi-talented cook?"

"I'm glad you enjoyed it."

"Oh, I did." She could feel him chuckle as she settled back against him. It would be so easy to close her eyes and let his breathing soothe her to sleep, to take comfort in the warmth of his body. She was surprised to find that she wanted that – wanted to fall asleep and wake up beside this man. But staying out all night wasn't something she allowed herself to do.

She shifted slightly in an effort to stay awake, and he brushed his hand down her arm to relax her. After a few more moments of restless indecision, she turned to lie on her back so that she could look up at him. "I should go."

"You don't have to," he said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I can't stay here…Rory's at home."

He nodded. She saw a flicker of disappointment, but he hid it well. "Just stay for a few more minutes. I can take you home."

It frightened her a bit how tempted she was, but a few minutes could become several minutes, which could too easily become the whole night. She wasn't sure she was ready to break that rule yet; dating someone Rory knew so well was enough of a violation already.

"Well, I drove here, so I have my car," she answered, "and if I stay here much longer I'm going to fall asleep." She gave him a kiss and slid out from under the covers.

As she shuffled around gathering up her clothes and getting dressed, she could hear him stepping out of bed and pulling on his boxers and t-shirt. She turned to see him running his hand across the back of his head nervously and looking at her with an unreadable expression.

"Let me walk you down," he said as he reached for her elbow, trying to pull her closer.

"You don't have to," she insisted. "I'm parked right outside and you're not dressed." She leaned in to kiss him, then pulled back, her voice soft and sincere, "Thank you again for dinner…everything."

"Anytime." His voice was soft, but she could see worry in his eyes, could see how reluctant he was to let her go without knowing something more about where they stood.

She started to slip away toward the door, but then hesitated and turned back. She brushed her fingers along his forearm, and she could feel him shiver. "Luke?"

"Yeah?"

She paused. "I do wish I could stay, but…" her voice trailed off quietly.

"Rory," he finished.

She nodded. Rory had always been a convenient excuse, the way that she kept herself from getting too close to the men she dated, the way that she kept her relationships fun and easy, without the co-mingling of lives and stuff that would follow if she were to start staying over. She'd always been just a little relieved to be able to leave before things got too complicated. Looking in Luke's eyes now though, she wondered if he could read all that, if he knew all that about her. And for just a moment, she wished she didn't have the built in excuse.

"See, I have these rules. These dating rules, and-"

"I get it, Lorelai."

"Really?"

He nodded. "Really." She could still see a sliver of doubt, a question remaining in his eyes.

She glanced at the door, tempted to take him at his word that he was okay with this. But Luke deserved - this relationship deserved - a bigger step; so instead, she took a deep breath, and spoke slowly, "The thing is, I'm beginning to think that Rory and I might need to revisit the rules."

"Revisit?" he asked uncertainly.

"Yeah," she said, nodding. "This might be a special case." She stumbled a bit over the words, "We might need to allow for some exceptions."

"A special case?" he confirmed. "This is a special case?" His voice was casual, but she knew the question was very real.

She nodded and gave him a shy smile. "Yeah. Special case."

He smiled then, a real smile. "Good," he said softly, his voice relieved. "That's very good."

Grinning back at him, she answered, "Yes it is," then stood up on her toes to give him another kiss before falling back on her heels again. "Goodnight, Luke," she said, brushing her knuckles across his cheek.

"Goodnight, Lorelai," he answered, with a gentle squeeze of her elbow, before she turned shyly, pulling the door closed behind her as she walked out the door.

_Fin_


End file.
